Apple manufacturing partner Wistron has almost completed a land deal that would see it open a new plant in India, Reuters reports. A source close to the deal claims the plant would at least in part be responsible for producing Apple’s iPhone 6s, as Apple looks to expand its presence in India. The company began producing the iPhone SE in India last year as part of a larger effort to gain access to the Indian market, allowing Apple to sell the entry-level device to customers looking for an affordable iPhone. The 6s — launched more than two years ago — is another good fit in that regard and would give customers in India a more affordable larger screen option that has come into favor in much of the rest of the world. Wistron has already gained federal approval to import machinery from China to India that can be used to set up new assembly lines, and local assembly will save Apple money on import taxes and allow the company to offer the phones for a lower price in a market obsessed with cost.

After announcing that its Edge browser would be coming to iOS last October, Microsoft has confirmed that the program’s iPad-friendly version is in internal testing and will be available on TestFlight for previewing early next month, Neowin reports. While iPad users can technically already use the iPhone version of Edge on their device, the experience is less than ideal since the app is scaled up in an unappealing way and limited to portrait mode. While the Edge browser currently lets Microsoft tablet users mark up websites with a stylus — a feature that could be very useful for iPad Pro users — there’s no word on whether that featue will makes its way to the iOS version.

The US Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission are both investigating whether Apple broke securities laws by not disclosing that it was intentionally slowing down older iPhones with aging batteries, Bloomberg reports. Sources familiar with the investigations said the government has requested information from Apple and has investigators examining public statements the company has made about the issue. While much attention has been paid to how the move irritated customers, the government seems to be looking at whether the company misled investors as well.

While rumors about an update to the iPhone SE have been swirling since early 2017, well-connected KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo doesn’t think we’re going to see a new version of the four-inch device any time soon, MacRumors reports. Apple released the smaller device in 2016 to fill the gap in its line up felt by users who didn’t want the larger size (and price tag) of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, but Kuo now says with Apple developing both LED and LCD versions of the larger iPhones for this fall, the company doesn’t have the development resources to focus on another iPhone. “We think the firm will do all it can to avoid repeating the mistake of a shipment delay for the three new models,” Kuo wrote, referencing the delay in launching the iPhone X last year. “As such, we believe Apple is unlikely to have enough spare resources to develop a new iPhone model for launch in 2Q18.”

Apple has added former Paramount executive Dana Tuinier to its original video content team to spearhead the development of comedy programming, TBI Vision reports. Tuinier will develop new comedy projects and oversee existing acquisitions starring Reese Witherspoon and Kristen Wiig. Tuinier previously acted as VP of development and original programming for The Paramount Network, which launched earlier this month in the US. Before joining Paramount Tuinier worked on hit Fox shows like Glee, New Girl and Bob’s Burgers.

After leaving exhausted iPhone X-owning parents everywhere on the hook for entering their Apple ID password for every “Ask to Buy” App Store purchase request last Christmas, Apple appears to have taken mercy on them in iOS 11.3, finally allowing Face ID to be used to authorize the purchases,9to5Mac reports. Up until now, the “Ask to Buy” feature has allowed Touch ID to be used to approve the requests, but not Face ID. Users testing the iOS 11.3 beta have found that the first purchase request still requires entering the password, but now iOS asks if the user wants to enable Face ID for approving future requests, so those who aren’t too worried about their kids breaking into their phones using their similar face will soon be free to simplify the process again.

Apple is delaying a home screen refresh, improvements to core apps and updates to photo taking/editing processes in iOS until next year, Axios reports. During a meeting earlier this month, software head Craig Federighi told employees the company will be focusing on making its iPhones more secure and responsive in an effort to combat recent criticism over security problems and lagging performance because of the company intentionally slowing down devices. Augmented reality, digital health and parental controls are also still receiving attention in 2018, but improvements to Mail and Camera apps, changes to Apple’s in-car interface and a home screen refresh have all been pushed to 2019.

Apple has settled a two-year-old patent dispute with haptic technology company Immersion, according to an announcement by the company. Immersion filed a lawsuit against Apple in early 2016, accusing the company of infringing its patents with 3D Touch, Force Touch, and Apple Watch technologies, as well as vibration patterns used for ringtones and notifications. In today’s very brief announcement, Immersion simply stated that it has “entered into settlement and license agreements with Apple, the terms of which are confidential,” although it adds that it’s a global settlement, and implies that Apple has agreed to license at least some of Immersion’s technology, although it’s unclear which technologies or patents are specifically involved. [via Engadget]

A new report from iMore confirms that Apple’s HomePod will not only work for streaming Apple Music and iTunes Store purchases from the cloud, but will also fully support iCloud Music Library — both for Apple Music and iTunes Match subscribers — meaning that HomePod users will be able to stream any tracks that are stored in their iCloud Music Library, even those that they have uploaded themselves, directly to the HomePod via Siri commands.

Although this makes logical sense in light of Apple’s merging of Apple Music and iTunes Match features in late 2016, most of the early reviews were vague on whether content that could be called up via Siri would be limited to only that available on Apple Music, or would extend to any tracks stored in a user’s iCloud Music Library. The iMore report now confirms this, providing specifics on what will be supported by the HomePod based on which services a user subscribes to. In addition to Apple Music and iCloud Music Library content, users can also use Siri to call up any podcast or episode found in Apple’s Podcast directory and Beats 1 and other live radio stations, and the HomePod of course also provides AirPlay support to allow users to stream pretty much anything else directly from an iOS device, Mac, or Apple TV.

Apple has posted four HomePod ads on its official YouTube channel, in the form of four 15-second music-focused clips that emphasize the HomePod primarily as a “breakthrough speaker.” The ads, titled Distortion, Bass, Equalizer, and Beat are each set to their own tracks, with most of the clip animating the word “HomePod” to the beat of the music, followed by a very brief glimpse of the speaker followed by an “Order Now” closing screen.

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Apple has published an environmental report for its new HomePod speaker, revealing that the unit “consumes less power than an average LED household light bulb during music playback,” coming in at 8.74 watts when connected to a standard 115-volt North American power outlet. Citing the use of power-efficient components and intelligent software, the report also notes that HomePod “outperforms the stringent requirements of the ENERGY STAR Program Requirements for Audio/Video Version 3.0, consuming 50 percent less than the allowable energy for low power mode,” or 1.71 watts, which the report explains is “entered automatically after 8 minutes of inactivity.” [via MacRumors]

Apple is ordering a new drama series from acclaimed filmmaker Damien Chazelle, according to a new report from Variety. While specific details of the series haven’t been disclosed, Chazelle is expected to write and direct every episode in addition to serving as executive producer alongside Jordan Horowitz and Fred Berger. Chazelle has been behind such award-winning films as last year’s “La La Land” and 2014’s “Whiplash” and have both received multiple Academy Awards. Chazelle has also been tapped to executive product and direct several episodes of the upcoming Netflix original series “The Eddy,” but Variety notes that the new Apple series will be the first time Chazelle will have written and directed every single episode of a series.

As expected, Apple’s new HomePod speaker is now on sale for preordering in the U.S., U.K., and Australia, with Feb. 9 shipping dates still available. Additional reports from 9to5Mac have also revealed that the HomePod includes a detachable color-matched two-metre power cable in the box, assuaging concerns from earlier reports that the speaker might use a fixed power cable that could be difficult to replace. HomePod is expected to be available for purchase from Apple retail stores and a wide variety of Apple authorized resellers on Feb. 9 in the U.S., U.K., and Australia, and is also expected to arrive in France and Germany sometime this spring.

Apple has followed up the release of the first iOS 11.3 and tvOS 11.3 developer betas earlier this week with the first beta of watchOS 4.3. Featuring a build number of 15T5165e, the very sparse release notes list only basic background information and “No known issues” providing no insight into what’s actually changed in the newest version.

Apple has a redesign for its iBooks app in the works, according to a new report by Bloomberg, as part of a plan to once again try to take on Amazon in the digital book market. People familiar with the project have revealed that the new app, which will be released in the coming months, is expected to include a simpler user interface and a redesigned digital bookstore that will borrow its cues from the iOS 11 App Store redesign. The app will include a new section called “Reading Now” along with a dedicated tab for audiobooks, according to the report.

Additional details continue to surface about Apple’s upcoming HomePod ahead of its launch date, including a new report from 9to5Mac revealing that the new wireless speaker will support the lossless FLAC audio format, providing additional evidence of Apple’s strong focus on the HomePod as a high-end speaker system rather than simply a home assistant. Lossless audio formats have long been preferred by the audiophile community, as they allow for unadulterated reproduction of high quality recordings, and although Apple’s ALAC format has been the company’s answer for this, the open nature of FLAC has made it a considerably more popular choice since it’s more widely supported. Apple added FLAC compatibility in iOS 11 last year, so although it wasn’t completely unexpected for the iOS-based HomePod to include FLAC support, it wasn’t entirely clear whether the codec would be supported over AirPlay.

Nintendo has announced (translated link) plans to shutter its first mobile game, Miitomo, later this year. First released almost two years ago, Miitomo represented the venerable game-maker’s first foray into the iOS ecosystem after years of holding out. Although the app was more of a social media experiment than a traditional game, the Nintendo name and marketing machine behind it resulted in a lot of hype, making its relatively short life somewhat surprising, although perhaps not entirely unexpected considering that Nintendo has moved on into considerably more popular traditional games for the iOS platform. In the announcement, Nintendo says that it will stop selling in-app currency as of today, with the service shutting down entirely on May 9. [via The Verge]

Nuvyyo has released a software update for its Tablo Over-The-Air DVR (iLounge rating: A-) bringing the more advanced and flexible scheduling and recording management tools that many users have been waiting for. The new features, which are rolling out as part of a firmware update to all Tablo DVR models, will allow users to adjust start and stop times for recordings, choose to keep only a specific number of episodes on a per-program basis, and choose which channel to record from when multiple channels are airing a given program. The new advanced recording features will be available to all customers with an active Tablo guide subscription once their devices have been updated to the latest firmware (2.2.18), which is being rolled out gradually over the next week, and can be accessed using most of Tablo’s apps, including the Apple TV and iOS apps, as well as the Safari-optimzied web app for Mac users. Full details can be found on the company’s blog.